Khama fingers Autlwetse in royal infighting
Innocent Selatlhwa | Wednesday December 20, 2023 08:13
According to Khama, matters deteriorated when specially elected legislator Kgotla Autlwetse, who lost the Serowe North Constituency in the 2019 General Election, was appointed Minister of Local Government and Rural Development in January 2022.
Justice Chris Gabanagae of the Gaborone High Court is scheduled to preside over a case on Tuesday wherein Bagammangwato royals, led by Khama, are contesting government's denial of access to the Kgotla. The applicants are Khama, Rasebolai Kgamane, Mokhutshwane Sekgoma, Phokontsi Seeletso, Seretse Peter Khama, and the Bagammangwato tribe, represented by the first five applicants.
They are represented by Tapiwa Abel.
The respondents in this matter include Serogola Seretse (Mothusa Motshwarelela Bogosi jwa Gammangwato), the District Commissioner of Serowe Administrative Authority (SAA), the Director of the Department of Tribal Authority, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, the Commander of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF), the Commissioner of the Botswana Police Service (BPS), the Director General of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), and the Attorney General (AG), as the first to eighth respondents.
They are represented by Advocate Sidney Pilane. How we suffered The following is what Khama says is an illustration of the said deprivation of their fundamental rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, which they have suffered and continue to suffer at the hands of the respondents: Suppression of the free expression of ideas and information in the kgotla on matters concerning the tribe;
The fourth respondent (Autlwetse) has imposed restrictions on the content of the ideas and information to be received and communicated at the kgotla; Autlwetse and Serogola dictated to the then Motshwarelela Bogosi Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane which speech should be expressed and which should be excluded in the kgotla; The fourth respondent instructed Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane that politics are not to be discussed in the kgotla; All meetings that have been prevented by the Minister in the past were blocked under the guise that the Applicants want to discuss politics at the kgotla as if the kgotla exists in a vacuum and contemporary politics is not a matter concerning the tribe. Whenever Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane, acting in consultation with Borangwane, the second to fourth applicants inclusive. attempted to convene a meeting of the tribe at the kgotla to discuss matters concerning the tribe, including Bogosi and my welfare as Kgosi of Bagammangwato, the Fourth Respondent would prevent the meeting from happening because such content amounts to politics.
The second to third applicants have also been prevented from convening meetings on the same grounds; Suspending and later dismissing Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane on grounds that he failed to restrict speech in the kgotla as directed by the Fourth Respondent or that he convened a meeting against the instructions of the Fourth Respondent; Serogola’s continuing refusal to allow any meetings to be held in the kgotlakgolo without any justifiable reasons; Unlawful occupation of the kgotla by members under the command of the BDF, BPS and DIS.
On all previous occasions that the First to Fifth Applicants sought to hold a meeting of the tribe at the kgotlakgolo, the said members under the command of the BDF, BPS and DIS would be deployed with guns and riot gear to deny access to the kgotlakqolo by amongst others, intimidation and blocking access to the kgotlakgolo.
There is currently a heavy presence of armed personnel in the kgotlakgolo who, without lawful cause, seek to prevent any meetings from being held in the kgotla; and Erection of access preventing barricades and structures around the kgotla.
The kgotlakgolo is currently sealed off. I do not recognise Serogola “According to the Bagammangwato customary law, as the designated and recognised Kgosi of Bagammangwato, I am principal custodian and overseer of the kgotlakgolo in trust for the tribe and I have the right to convene a meeting at the kgotlakgolo for purposes of discussing matters of tribal concern. I also have the right to instruct any designated member of Bogosi, including Borangwane as senior members of the tribe, to convene a meeting at the kgotlakgolo for purposes of discussing matters of tribal concern in the following manner. Depending on the agenda of the meeting and on the circumstances obtained at the time, I am entitled to instruct a duly designated Motshwarelela Bogosi to convene such a meeting. In the absence of a duly designated Motshwarelela Bogosi and depending on the agenda of the meeting and on the circumstances obtained at the time, I am entitled to instruct a duly designated Mothusa Motshwarelela Bogosi or Borangwane to convene such a meeting. In the absence of a duly designated Motshwarelela Bogosi and a duly designated Mothusa Motshwarelela Bogosi.
I am entitled to instruct Borangwane as senior members of the tribe to convene such a meeting. My instruction to a Motshwarelela Bogosi or Mothusa Motshwarelela Bogosi to convene a meeting at the Kgotlakgolo, for purposes of discussing matters of tribal concern, is subject to the condition that that person is properly designated as such,” he states. Khama states that he no longer approves of Serogola as Mothusa Motshwarelela Bogosi, neither does Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane, who designated him, nor Borangwane.
As such, with the support of Borangwane, he states he has since revoked Serogola‘s designation as Mothusa Motshwarelela Bogosi. He further states the circumstances that led to the disapproval and revocation of his designation as Mothusa Motshwarelela Bogosi are: Although he was aware that I had designated the fifth applicant (Seretse Peter Khama) as Motshwarelela Bogosi by the time, ever since Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane ceased to be Motshwarelela Bogosi, the first respondent (Serogola) sought to usurp the role without being duly designated by myself thereto; As Rangwane himself, he has isolated himself from my other royal uncles. does not work with them nor consult them for the best interest of the tribe.
He has chosen to cleave to the ulterior motives of the state and further unlawful instructions from the fourth respondent, at the expense of the tribe; He is acting for his own selfish interests and the ulterior motives of the state, as embodied through the fourth respondent; and He is denying the tribe access to the Kgotla for purposes of settling Bogosi issues, such as the filling of the Motshwarelela Bogosi seat. Seemingly, it serves him right and is to his advantage to keep the Motshwarelela Bogosi seat unsettled.
“For the above reasons I cannot, now or in the future, instruct Serogola to convene a meeting at the kgotlakgolo for purposes of discussing matters of tribal concern. Circumstances do not permit. He is conflicted and is doing all that he can to ensure that the disarray in the Bogosi Jwa Bagammangwato continues because if he did not he would have done all that he can to ensure that the designated Motshwarelela Bogosi is seated,” he states.